Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Brent crude rose to a five-day high
after the International Energy Agency increased its oil demand
forecast for 2013 and as OPEC ministers completed their meeting
in Vienna to discuss production limits.

Futures climbed as much as 1.2 percent in London, a third
straight advance. Global oil consumption will expand to 90.5
million barrels a day next year, more than previously forecast,
amid signs of a rebound in Chinese demand, the IEA said in a
report today. OPEC will maintain its output ceiling at 30
million barrels a day, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi
said after the closed-door talks concluded.

“Most member states in the exporting group are happy with
the current market balance and price levels, while fearing that
falling production could see a further price rise and hurt
already struggling demand growth into 2013,” Andrey
Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London, said by e-mail.

Brent for January settlement added as much as $1.27 to
$109.28 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe
exchange, the highest since Dec. 5. Futures were at $109.14 as
of 1:53 p.m. local time. West Texas Intermediate for January
delivery was at $86.23 a barrel, up 44 cents, in electronic
trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, leaving it $22.89 a
barrel below Brent.

Oil in New York has technical support along an upward-sloping trend line on the daily chart, at about $85.73 a barrel
today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A sustained drop
below this line, which connects the intraday lows of June and
November, will signal a so-called downside breakout, when losses
tend to accelerate.

Rising Consumption

Global consumption in the final three months of 2012 will
average 90.5 million barrels a day, about 435,000 barrels, or
0.5 percent, more than previously forecast, the Paris-based IEA
said in a monthly report today.

“Markets have grown somewhat more optimistic about the
Chinese economy as confidence indicators recently turned
expansionary after a long period in the doldrums,” the IEA
said.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ meeting
was its second this year. The group decided to extend Abdalla
El-Badri’s term as Secretary-General by one year, al-Naimi said.

While OPEC’s own forecasts show that it’s pumping more than
consumers need, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab
Emirates, Angola, Ecuador and Libya have indicated that supply
and demand are approximately in balance.

Falling Output

Total production from all 12 OPEC nations slid to an 11-month low of 30.78 million barrels a day last month, according
to a monthly report from the group yesterday that cited
secondary sources for its data. That’s still above the official
cap and about 1.03 million barrels a day more than the projected
average demand for OPEC crude next year.

“The Saudis will do as they always do and cut production
further going into next year to protect prices at $90 to $110”
for Brent, Torbjoern Kjus, a senior oil analyst at DNB ASA in
Oslo, said by phone before today’s decision.

An Energy Department report today may show crude supplies
shrank by 2.5 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg News
survey. Crude inventories grew by 4.27 million barrels last
week, the most since August, data from the American Petroleum
Institute showed.

Gasoline stockpiles in the U.S. increased by 2.76 million
barrels last week, the API data showed. They are forecast to
rise by 2 million in the government report, according to the
median estimate of 11 analysts in the Bloomberg News survey.
Distillate inventories, a category that includes diesel and
heating oil, rose by 2.24 million barrels compared with an
estimate for the Energy Department data of 1.1 million.

The API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis
from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The
government requires that reports be filed with the Energy
Department for its weekly survey.